COMPETITION 2017

Chairman of the Jury,
Concert Pianist, Professor and International Chair in Piano, Royal Birmingham Conservatoire – Birmingham City University. Honorary Professor, Royal Academy of Music in London.

The French Pianist Pascal Nemirovski is internationally recognized as one of the foremost piano pedagogues with many of his students from Bulgaria, China, France, Germany, Greece, Hong-Kong, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Korea, Portugal, Romania, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, Taiwan, United Kingdom, USA… winning top prizes, amongst them Lise de la Salle, Louis Schwizgebel … He was admitted in 1981 to The Juilliard School on full scholarship (Steinway & Freundlich Fund) where he studied with Nadia Reisenberg, pupil of Joseph Hoffman and Adele Marcus, pupil of Joseph Lhevinne and Artur Schnabel, heirs of the Teodor Leszetycki school. In 1984, he decided to settle in Paris and started to give numerous concerts and masterclasses in Europe, the United States and Asia, pursuing further studies with France Clidat and Alexis Weissenberg.

From 1990 to 1995, already fascinated by teaching, at the request of violinist Vladimir Spivakov, he created and was the Head of the Masterclasses of the International Festival of Colmar, becoming also the youngest professor amongst the 25 guest artists invited who included D. Bashkirov, P. Devoyon, G. Graffman, A. Knaisev, V. Krainev, Y. Menuhin… This festival brought together the greatest international institutions such as the Paris Conservatoire, Curtis Institute of Music (Philadelphia), Royal Academy of Music (London), Moscow Conservatory, Juilliard School (New York) …

Being now one of the most sought-after teachers, he frequently hosts lectures and workshops and writes books on Piano Pedagogy. He also gives master-classes throughout the world (China, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Korea, Russia, Spain, UK, USA… and is much demanded as a jury member at international piano competitions: Young Concert Artist New York, San Jose International Competition (USA), Lagny-sur-Marne International Piano Competition (France), Friuli Venezia Giulia International Piano Competition (Italy)…

In 2004, he released his first CD “Entre Ciel et Terre” devoted to Chopin, Prokofiev and Scriabin which was unanimously acclaimed by the press and is currently preparing recordings devoted to Alexander Scriabin.

Professor, Hon ARAM at the Royal Academy of Music in London during 10 years, he holds since October 2016 the position of International Chair in Piano at The Birmingham Conservatoire.

He is also Professor at The Purcell School and is Visiting Professor at the Shanghai, Guangzhou Conservatories.

During the summer, he teaches at some world renown Academies like the Edwin Fischer Sommerakademie (Germany), MusicAlp(France), Music Fest Perugia (Italy), Cadenza Summer School (UK)…

Pascal Nemirovski is a Steinway Artist.

www.pascalnemirovski.com 

Editor Live Music and New Generation Artists BBC Radio 3.

Emma Bloxham read music at Oxford University and joined the BBC in 1997.

She has held a variety of posts at BBC Radio 3 and is currently Editor live music; her responsibilities include the radio coverage of the BBC Proms, Opera  and the New Generation Artists scheme.

She has extensive experience of working in the recording studio and is passionate about helping young musicians develop their careers.

Assistant Conductor of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO). Artistic Director of the Festival Northern Chords.

Jonathan Bloxham is already establishing himself as one of the most versatile musicians of his generation and has recently been appointed Assistant Conductor of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra from the 2016/17 season. He is also Artistic Director of Northern Chords, a festival based in the North East of England that he founded in 2009.

Jonathan’s recent conducting highlights include the Philadelphia Orchestra in the finals of their search for an Assistant and work as Cover Conductor at the New York Philharmonic. In November 2016 he stood in for Nikolai Znaider at short notice with the CBSO to conduct a concert of Mozart.

As a cellist Jonathan is winner of several prestigious awards such as the Guilhermina Suggia Gift and a Pierre Fournier Award Grant. He was a founding member of the Busch Trio which went on to win numerous international awards and has regularly performed at venues such as the Wigmore Hall, Kings Place and the Southbank Centre. Jonathan gave his concerto debut at the Berlin Philharmonie in 2012 and in chamber music he has collaborated with renowned musicians such as Michael Collins, Jack Liebeck and the Schumann Quartet.

Passionate about contemporary music Jonathan has commissioned several new works by young composers such as Vlad Maistorovici and Freya Waley Cohen. In September 2016 he gave the world premiere of Gareth Farr’s Piano Trio at Wigmore Hall and in May 2017 he will conduct the premiere of a new work by Matthew Kaner for solo violin and chamber orchestra with Benjamin Baker as soloist.

Jonathan started his musical training at the age of 8 with a local teacher at his primary school in Gateshead. He then studied at the Yehudi Menuhin School, Royal College of Music with Thomas Carroll and finally at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama with Louise Hopkins. Jonathan has taken further studies with Eberhart Feltz, Nicolas Pasquet and Paavo Jarvi.

Senior Artist Manager at the music and Concert Agency Caecilia (Geneva/Zurich). Director of the Meisterinterpreten series in Zurich at the Tonhalle.

Born 1972 in Zurich into a family of musicians. Started playing the piano at age 5 and won 1st prize at the Swiss Youth Music Competition (Concours Suisse de Musique pour la Jeunesse). He holds a Bachelor of Music in Musicology at the University of Zurich and Master in Arts Management. Started his professional career within Universal Music as promotion manager for Decca and Philips. Currently Senior artist manager at the music and concert Agency Caecilia (Geneva/Zurich) where he manages some world-class soloists and organizes the concert series Meisterinterpreten in Zurich at the Tonhalle.

http://www.caecilia.ch

Concert Pianist and Professor at the Universität der Künste, Berlin.

Consistently cited for his “sound imagination” and astonishing power, Markus Groh has confirmed his place among the finest pianists in the world today. Sharing the same birthday with Alfred Brendel, Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli and Maurizio Pollini, he has proven himself worthy of their company.  Most recently, Mr. Groh has made stunning debuts with both the National Symphony in Washington, D.C. (Brahms Concerto No. 1 in D Minor) and the Cleveland Orchestra (Brahms Concerto No. 2 in B-Flat).  In the words of the Cleveland Plain Dealer, “Groh proved exceptionally well-suited to the giant task of Brahms’ Piano Concerto No. 2…Not for a second did Groh lose his cool. Instead, he devoured the piece with sparing gestures and the apparent ease of a complete virtuoso. “

 Mr. Groh has also appeared with the symphony orchestras of Baltimore, Colorado, Detroit, Florida, Fort Worth, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, Kansas City, Louisville, Milwaukee, New Jersey, New Orleans, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Seattle, among others. Outside the U.S., engagements include the Auckland Philharmonia, Bamberg Symphony, Beijing Symphony, Berlin Symphony, Bournemouth Symphony, Budapest Festival Orchestra, Hague Residentie Orkest, Helsinki Philharmonic, London Symphony, Mälmo Symphony, MDR Orchestra at the Leipzig Gewandhaus, New Japan Philharmonic, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Osaka Philharmonic, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, St. Petersburg Philharmonic, SWR Orchestra (Stuttgart), and the Warsaw Philharmonic.

Earlier seasons included highly successful debuts with the Cincinnati Symphony, Houston Symphony, Vancouver Symphony, and a collaboration with the Tokyo String Quartet at the 92^nd Street Y in New York.  Among the conductors with whom Mr. Groh has collaborated are Jesus Lopez Cobos, Andreas Delfs, Ivan Fischer, Miguel Harth-Bedoya, Marek Janowski, Neeme Järvi, Fabio Luisi, Ludwig Morlot, Kent Nagano, Jonathan Nott, David Robertson, Kwamé Ryan, and Stefan Sanderling, to name a few.

A spellbinding recitalist, Markus Groh reveals shapes, textures and colors that one seldom hears in live performance. Critics agree: “Groh is a great pianist.” [Toronto Star]; “…a superb recital…” [New York Times]; “A new star in the pianistic firmament…” [Neue Zürcher Zeitung].  Recently, Mr. Groh has appeared in recital at the Friends of Chamber Music Denver, Friends of Chamber Music Kansas City, Vancouver Recital Society, and at The Frick Collection in New York. Chamber music activities have included performances with Claudio Bohórquez, Julia Fischer, Maximilian Hornung, Albrecht Mayer, Paul Meyer, Andreas Ottensamer, Boris Pergamenschikow, Heinrich Schiff, Akiko Suwanai, Radovan Vlatkovic, Tianwa Yang and Tabea Zimmermann as well as Lieder Recitals with the legendary Peter Schreier.

Widely acclaimed for his interpretations of Liszt, an all-Liszt CD (including the Totentanz and B Minor Sonata) was released by AVIE in 2006.  Showered with rave reviews, it was also named “Editor’s Choice” in Gramophone Magazine.  An all-Brahms CD was released by AVIE in June of 2008.  Other recordings include a CD of Debussy, Prokofiev, and Britten cello sonatas with Claudio Bohórquez on Berlin Classics and a CD of Liszt’s Totentanz with the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande conducted by Fabio Luisi on Cascavelle.

A frequent guest at international festivals such as Grant Park, Festival Cultural de Mayo (Mexico), La Folle Journée, Ruhr, Ludwigsburg, Bad Kissingen, and Schubertiade (Austria), Mr.  Groh is the founder and artistic director of the Bebersee Festival near Berlin.  He has appeared frequently on radio and television in Germany, Spain, Belgium, Holland, France, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Japan (NHK), Mexico and the United States (NPR).

Markus Groh was born on the 5^th of January 1970 in southern Germany.  He was a student of Professor Konrad Richter in Stuttgart and Professor Hans Leygraf in Berlin and Salzburg.  He gained immediate world attention after winning the prestigious Queen Elisabeth International Competition in Brussels in 1995, the first German to do so.  Other awards include First Prize at the 1990 Artur Schnabel Competition in Berlin.

Mr. Groh divides his time between Berlin and New York.

http://www.markusgroh.org/

Concert Pianist and Professor at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory, Moscow.

Natalia Trull began studying piano in her native St. Peterburg. She later moved to Moscow where she graduated from the Moscow Conservatory. Among her teachers were professors Y. Zak, M. Voskresensky and T. Kravchenko.
Her performance career was launched when she won first prize at the Belgrade International Piano Competition in 1983. However, the biggest success came in 1986 she won the silver medal at the Tchaikovsky International Piano Competition. The public was swept off its feet by her interpretation of composers such as Schubert and Stravinsky. Her “Petroushka” suite left an everlasting impression on the public and critics alike.

In 1993, Natalia Trull was awarded the Grand Prix at the Piano Masters Competition in Monte-Carlo (where only winners of international competitions are accepted as participants).
Natalia Trull’s complete control and fantastic virtuosity place her in a class of her own, and she is in great demand as a performer all over the world. Among the distinguished orchestras with whom she has performed are the London Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, Japan Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre de Monte-Carlo, Tonhalle Symphony Orchestra and all of the major Russian Symphony Orchestras.

Natalia Trull has also played with such conductors as Raphael Frubeck de Burgos, Raymond Leppard, Jean-Bernard Pommier, Eri Klas, Gennady Rozhdestvensky, Vassily Sinaisky, Yuri Temirkanov and many others.
Her repertoire includes over 50 concertos, of which the Tchaikovsky concerto has proved to be the most popular, the pianist having performed the work on over one hundred occasions in the world’s leading concert halls. Her most brilliant performances of the Tchaikovsky concerto were in Hollywood Bowl under Eri Klas and the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra and in Suntory Hall with Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Koizumi Kazuhiro (1998-99 season).
Natalia’s performances today are remarkable for her total absorption in the music her unique stage presence and technical mastery in presenting a wide repertoire of works.

Natalia Trull is frequently invited to teach to the U.S.A., Japan, Italy, Germany and South America. She is Professor at the Moscow Tchaikovky Concervatory. She is permanently a jury member of many international piano competitions.

Concert Pianist and Artistic Director of the Festival MusicFestPerugia.

Ilana Vered has been heard with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Japan NHK Symphony Orchestra, Münchner Philharmoniker, and Israel Philharmonic Orchestra.

She has performed as soloist under the batons of most of the world’s finest conductors, including Leopold Stokowski, Georg Solti, Zubin Mehta, Kemperer, Kirill Kondrashin, Michael Tilson Thomas, Edo de Waart, Leonard Slatkin, Sergiu Comissiona, Colin Davis, Kurt Sanderling, Cassadesus, Bertini, Raymond Leppard, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Atzmon, Raymond Leppard, Rodan, James Judd, Lawrence Foster, Matthias Bamert, Mariss Jansons and Vanska.

A regular participant in summer festivals, Vered has made appearances at the Mostly Mozart Festival in New York, Chicago’s Ravinia Festival, Tanglewood, Cleveland’s Blossom Festival, the Meadow-brooks Festival in Detroit, and at Los Angeles’ Hollywood Bowl. She has repeatedly demonstrated sovereign musical and technical command over some forty-five concertos – from J.S. Bach, through Mozart, Chopin, Johannes Brahms, Tchaikovsky and Sergei Rachmaninov, to Alban Berg….

Ilana Vered is a chamber musician of distinction and is noted particularly for her frequent performances with the Tokyo String Quartet. A highlight of this collaboration was Vered’s world premiere performance with the ensemble of Ezra Laderman’s Piano Quintet at the Metropolitan Museum in New York City. During the Hampton Summerfest and the Rutgers Summerfest Ilana Vered performed the five L.v. Beethoven concertos in one event.
During the 1993-1994 season, she performed a L.v. Beethoven cycle of the complete sonatas and variations for piano and cello, with cellist Sharon Robinson, in Washington, D.C., Santa Fe, New York City.

Ilana Vered recorded for Decca/London works by Brahms, Mozart and Rachmaninov. For connoisseur society she recorded the complete Chopin Etudes, Op. 10 and 25, complete recording of Moszkowski’s 15 Études de Virtuosité, Op. 72 (1970). Decca also released a disc entitled “25 Virtuoso Etudes” new readings of concert etudes by Chopin, Schumann, Paganini-Liszt, and Debussy (1992). Vered committed to disc the complete set of Beethoven’s five piano concertos with the Warsaw Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Kazimierz Kord (1993 ProArte). Ilana Vered has made a series of unusual feature length films entitled “Looking at Music” being distributed in the US by BMG.

She has taught master-classes world wide and has founded three festivals : the Summerfest Series of Rutgers University, the Hamptons Summerfest, and Music Fest Perugia in Perugia, Italy, which is today the largest festival for young classical musicians in Italy. She is also a frequent juror of many international competitions: Young Concert Artists (NY), Vendome Prize (Verbier), Jerusalem Young Talent Prize, Saint Priest (Lyon), Silk Road Competition (Xian) and others.
Presently she is spending the winter in Vancouver, giving master classes at the University and appearing at the “satelites” Music fest Perugia has founded in Seoul, Moscow and Taipei.